Chapter 244 There is no such thing as bullying
Next, Yang Chong successively conferred titles on civil and military officials. As for family affairs, there was naturally no need to bring them up in this occasion.

When the ceremony was coming to an end, not too far to the east, Qin Shangqing Dun Ruo had already entered Linzi City and was invited to the residence of Prime Minister Hou Sheng with a lavish display of gold coins.

"Mr. Dunruo, why don't you stay in Qin and be a good minister? Why do you have the mood to come to our Qi? Is it because the salary King Zheng of Qin doesn't give you enough?" The chubby Hou Sheng greeted Dunruo with a smile. He was not familiar with Dunruo, but he felt very close to Dunruo's money.

Hou Sheng was a mediocre prime minister of Qi. If his sister had not been the Queen Dowager who had been regent of Qi for decades, he would never have become the prime minister of Qi because he had no talent. Not to mention being the prime minister of a country, even being a county magistrate was beyond his ability.

In this era of great strife, a mediocre prime minister is a disaster for a country, but Hou Sheng is an exception, because such a mediocre person is the product of the special decades of brewing in Qi State.

To some extent, Hou Sheng's national spirit is exactly the same as Qi's current national spirit. It is precisely because of this that he can complement each other with King Jian of Qi and the civil and military officials of Qi, and has sat firmly on the position of Prime Minister of Qi for more than ten years. While other countries are treading on thin ice in the war, they are living in peace in a corner, living a life of luxury.

"Could it be that the Prime Minister doesn't know?" Dun Ruo was a little surprised when he saw Hou Sheng, who showed no sign of nervousness. With such a big commotion in Dong'e City, didn't Hou Sheng get any information? Or was it that Hou Sheng was too scheming and he couldn't see the clues?

Compared with the latter, Dun Ruo was more willing to believe the first reason, because no matter how he looked at it, he could not see that Hou Sheng, a fat man who relied on his sister's nepotism to get to his current position, could have any extraordinary talents.

"What do you know?" Hou Sheng asked in confusion. He knew everything about Linzi, but he didn't know much about Qin. After all, after Qi closed its borders, Qin was too far away from Qi both geographically and psychologically.

"Yang Chong, the descendant of Qi State's Lu family, has been officially crowned as king in Dong'a City in the presence of envoys from six countries." Dun Ruo was speechless.

"What king?" Hou Sheng hadn't reacted yet.

"King Qi." If it weren't for his professional training, Dun Ruo would have rolled his eyes at this moment.

"How is that possible? How can there be two Kings of Qi in this world?" Hou Sheng said in shock. Only then did he react.

There is no two suns in the sky, and no two kings in a country. This principle is universally applicable in this world. There is only one State of Qi in the world, so how can there be two kings of Qi?
"But now there are two Kings of Qi, and Yang Chong is going to be the only King of Qi." Dun Ruo said with emphasis.

He came to Linzi with only one purpose, which was to instigate a war between Qi and Dong'e. Although according to common sense, King Jian of Qi could not tolerate Yang Chong's claim to the throne, but King Jian of Qi was a person who could not be guessed by common sense, so he came to make something that might happen become inevitable.

"Is he going to attack the State of Qi?" Hou Sheng's angle of approach to the issue seemed somewhat strange.

Was it Hou Sheng's abnormality, or was it that Qi was indeed abnormal? Dun Ruo's cognition on this matter was refreshed again.

"Shouldn't the Prime Minister be considering the king's thoughts now? Now that Yang Chong has openly proclaimed himself king, where does this put the king and the Prime Minister?" Dun Ruo was already extremely speechless and could only remind Hou Sheng, as he was afraid that Hou Sheng would not be able to react.

As a person who practices the art of diplomacy, he knows people's hearts and understands the pros and cons through his eloquence. He can make the target follow his ideas unconsciously, and eventually fall into his rhythm and be convinced by him. This is what Dun Ruo is very good at. In the past few years, he has used such means countless times to persuade all kinds of people, from kings to ordinary people, but no matter what kind of person he faced, Dun Ruo had never been as speechless as he was today.

"This Yang Chong is really too much. He just proclaimed himself king, but he even wants to attack us? We in Qi have only enjoyed a few years of peace!" the young man said angrily.

The look of righteous indignation made Dun Ruo even unable to help but have an illusion.

"No, I will report to the king right now." Hou Sheng said.

"I wonder how the Prime Minister intends to advise the King?" Dun Ruo asked tentatively.

“Of course, I implore the king to send troops to destroy Yang Chong and make the so-called descendants of the Lu family completely become the dust of history.” Hou Sheng said without hesitation.

"That's right." Dun Ruo smiled with satisfaction.

"No, the kings of the six countries jointly recommended Yang Chong as the King of Qi. The King of Qin was also involved in this process, right?" Just when Dun Ruo thought he was about to succeed, Hou Sheng suddenly thought of something that he had just overlooked, but was enough to be fatal.

The kings of the six kingdoms jointly recommended Yang Chong as the leader of Qi. Did they reach some kind of deal with Yang Chong behind this? If Qi sent troops to attack Dong'e, what if the six kingdoms also sent troops to intervene?

Thinking of this, Hou Sheng felt a chill all over his body. As a person who had experienced the chaos of the Five Kingdoms' Invasion of Qi, Hou Sheng had an instinctive fear of the term "coalition of various countries".

How powerful was the State of Qi back then? It had an army of 600,000 and a population of 8 to 9 million. In terms of national wealth and population alone, it was even stronger than the State of Qin.

But such a powerful Qi State collapsed rapidly under the attack of the coalition forces of five countries. Seventy of Qi State's 72 important cities were lost. Even King Min of Qi, the grandfather of King Jian of Qi, ended up dead. His death was so cruel and painful that it ranks among the most tragic in history books.

"Of course there will be the King of Qin." Seeing Hou Sheng's reaction, Dun Ruo was not panicked by the possibility of being rejected. Instead, he smiled. This was the rhythm he was familiar with. Although Hou Sheng's reaction was a little slow, he finally had the reaction he should have. In this way, the words he had prepared for a long time were really put to good use.

"Since the King of Qin has already supported Yang Chong, why did you come to Linzi?" Hou Sheng said angrily.

"Of course I hope that the king can send troops to destroy Yang Chong." Dun Ruo said.

"Wait a minute sir, the King of Qin helped Yang Chong become the King of Qi, but now he wants to destroy Yang Chong? The change in attitude before and after is too big." Dun Ruo's thoughts were confused, what a complicated human heart!

"The reason why our king helped Yang Chong was because he owed Yang Chong a favor, so he had to help Yang Chong. As for why our king wanted to destroy Yang Chong and the forces under his command, it was because Qin's main target in recent years has been Zhao, and Yang Chong has become someone who can influence the direction of the war between Qin and Zhao." Dun Ruo explained.

"So, the King of Qin is planning to kill someone with a borrowed knife?" Hou Sheng reacted very quickly this time.

"It's not about borrowing a knife to kill someone, it's that Qi needs to destroy Yang Chong, the fake king." Dun Ruo said. "That's not the same thing." Hou Sheng rolled his eyes, still showing his dandy nature at his age.

"Please ask the Prime Minister to explain the pros and cons of this to the King." Dun Ruo said.

"Okay, but my king is not easy to convince." Hou Sheng agreed in the first half of the sentence, but changed his words in the second half.

"As long as the Prime Minister can make this happen, everything will be fine and easy to discuss." Dun Ruo smiled and took out a piece of paper from his sleeve pocket and placed it in front of Hou Sheng.

Although Dun Ruo came here to trick Yang Chong, as a scholar, he still has to thank Yang Chong. It can be said that any scholar in the world has to thank Yang Chong. The invention of paper has greatly benefited scholars all over the world. For this reason alone, in future history books, no matter whether Yang Chong succeeds or fails, he will leave a strong mark. In later generations, people will even forget Yang Chong's martial arts and only remember his paper.

Hou Sheng only took a quick glance and understood what was written on it. A bright smile broke out on his chubby face.

"Mr. Dunruo, you are being too polite. You have come here to help our State of Qi. How can I accept your gift?" Hou Sheng refused with a smile, but his hand had already taken the gift list and was holding it tightly, with no intention of letting go.

In response, Dun Ruo just smiled, but he was full of contempt in his heart. However, he would not show anything. If everyone in the world was a gentleman, his tactics of diplomacy would be of less use.

It is precisely because there are so many people like Hou Sheng in the world that the strategists can shine in this era. If there are no flaws in people's hearts, there will be no room for the so-called strategists.

After accepting the gift, Hou Sheng happily rushed to the palace. He was not only the prime minister of Qi, but also the uncle of King Jian of Qi, so it was very convenient for him to enter and exit the palace. Soon after entering the palace, he saw King Jian of Qi who was drunk.

"Why did my uncle come here this time?" Qi Wangjian asked in a daze with his drunken eyes.

"Your Majesty, the descendants of the Lu family have borrowed the land of Zhao and the names of the six kingdoms and have proclaimed themselves kings in Dong'a." Hou Sheng, who knew King Jian of Qi well, replied.

"What king?" King Jian of Qi asked in astonishment. His reaction was almost the same as Hou Sheng's before.

"King Qi."

"Hiss!" Qi Wangjian couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. This matter seemed a bit serious, but...

But it doesn't seem to matter. Even if Yang Chong becomes king, what can he do? With the little power in Dong'a, can he dare to attack Qi?

"Then let him play by himself." Qi Wangjian thought for a moment and returned to his drunken state.

"Your Majesty, things are not that simple. The Qin State wants us to send troops to deal with Yang Chong." Hou Sheng, who would do things for money, continued.

"Something is wrong. Didn't I just hear that the six kings jointly recommended Yang Chong to be the king? Why does King Zheng of Qin want us to attack Yang Chong now?" King Jian of Qi asked in confusion.

"Your Majesty, things are not that simple. As far as I know..." Hou Sheng repeated to King Jian of Qi what Dun Ruo had just told him.

"Isn't the mind of Qin Wang Zheng too scary?" After listening to Hou Sheng's story, Qi Wang Jian couldn't help but take a deep breath again. Could there be such a sinister person in the world?
"We'd better have less dealings with the Qin State." After a little thought, King Jian of Qi said this. He felt that King Zheng of Qin was too treacherous. Instead of dealing with him, he might end up being cheated like Yang Chong. It would be better for him to stay in the palace, continue playing music, and continue dancing.

"Your Majesty, things are not that simple. I heard that King Zheng of Qin once said that as long as Yang Chong is in Zhao, it will be extremely difficult for Qin to conquer Zhao. In order to change this situation, Qin must transfer Yang Chong's energy to places outside Zhao." Hou Sheng learned what Dun Ruo taught him.

"Where?" King Jian of Qi also looked nervous. He loved to enjoy himself and was most afraid of accidents.

"Qi, I even heard that King Zheng of Qin once said to his confidants that if Qi did not take the initiative to send troops to destroy Yang Chong, Qin would help Yang Chong to attack Qi. Only in this way could Qin prevent Yang Chong from helping Zhao." Hou Sheng said.

"What?" King Jian of Qi was horrified. After struggling for a moment, he said angrily, "You can't bully people like this. King Zheng of Qin wanted to seize Zhao and plot against Yang Chong. He should have done it himself. Why did he include me and Qi in it? He made Yang Chong the King of Qi, and now he wants me to destroy Yang Chong. Is there anyone in the world who acts like this?"

At this time, King Jian of Qi was very depressed. Why? Why?
He is no longer as obsessed with striving for supremacy as his ancestors. Now he just wants to live his own life. Why is it so difficult?
"Your Majesty, what do you think?" Hou Sheng asked tentatively. He felt that it would be better to send troops. Even without the intervention of King Zheng of Qin, they had enough reasons to send troops. After all, as a matter of common sense, there cannot be two kings of Qi in the world!

"Send troops. Although King Zheng of Qin's plan is disgusting, we do need to send troops. There cannot be two Kings of Qi in the world." King Jian of Qi pondered for a moment and could only make this choice.

Due to internal and external forces, he had no more choices. The key point was that both Yang Chong and King Zheng of Qin had forced him into a desperate situation.

“Your Majesty, the troops in Linzi may not be enough,” Hou Sheng reminded.

"Then recruit soldiers. My Qi State has not fought a war with other countries for so many years. Have people in the world forgotten that my Qi State is also a great country that cannot be coveted by everyone?" King Jian of Qi was already in high spirits at this time. Although he was timid, he also had his own pride. After all, he was born to be a king. He was timid only in front of people like King Zheng of Qin. In front of other people, he was still a king, a high and mighty king.

The speed of transmitting information in this era was not that fast, and even King Zheng of Qin could not escape such limitations. Therefore, King Zheng of Qin, who was far away in Xianyang, had not received any news of what happened in Dong'a and Linzi.

But with King Zheng of Qin's insight and intuition, he knew that what he was going to do had been successful and everything was as planned.

"I just don't know if you are satisfied with the gift I gave you? Master Yang, no, you should be the King of Qi now." King Zheng of Qin smiled faintly.

Next year's offensive against Zhao can be prepared.

(End of this chapter)